


wouldn't you like to see something strange?

by constellatory



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Also Blood, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Vampires, Werewolves, and Halloween, featuring:, slight AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-12 21:14:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9091063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/constellatory/pseuds/constellatory
Summary: Nanako wants to dress up and go Trick or Treating for Halloween. Yu and Yosuke have a secret they've been keeping. These things end up being related.





	1. the beginning of the night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple of conceits are necessary for this story. For instance, let’s pretend Nanako is not sick on this day, but the following day. I also swapped out Rise’s Halloween outfit, for Reasons. (The one she wears in DAN strikes me as too "idol"-y for use during the main game’s timeline.)
> 
> The title is exactly what you think it is. Inspiration for this drawn from [this art](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/7e/79/d3/7e79d355b9e6e10c99e7e985cea3d579.jpg), which, uh, I tried to find a source for and failed miserably. If you know it, toss me a line!
> 
> It took me way too long to write a 16k word Halloween fic. Enjoy.

"Big bro, what's that?"

"Hm?" Yu turned to face her as he stood in the doorway of the Dojima residence, his blinking curiosity matching hers for just a moment.

"You mean these?"

He held out the stack of costumes he'd been keeping tucked under his arm, given to him by Yosuke. His own was on top, the collar of the cape sticking out almost comically. (The hat, he reflected, was at Junes, where he’d left it. He’d have to go back tomorrow...) Nanako's eyes widened, and she reached up to try and take hold of the shirt that was still hiding most of the rest of the outfit. With a smile, Yu leaned down a little, and Nanako unfolded both shirt and cape, the first with a practiced hand, the second slightly less so when the rest of the silky fabric slithered to the floor, too long for her to hold up even with her arm raised above her head.

"Is this a costume? Were you gonna be a vampire, big bro?"

Yu stared at her in mild shock, then gave the pants still held in the crook of his arm a considering look.

"It was meant to be a magician's uniform... but I can see why you think so."

"Um, um!" Nanako bounced on her toes, bright eyes and breathless hope. "Are we gonna do Halloween, big bro?"

"You like Halloween, Nanako?" Yu moved over to the table, placing the costumes he still held in a neat pile on one corner and turning to hold his hands out to Nanako. She relinquished the two thirds of his costume she'd been hugging to her chest. He carefully folded them and set them atop the pile while she chattered at him happily.

"We had Halloween in school last year! We got to dress up and go between classrooms and ask for candy! It was so much fun!" Nanako had bunched her fists in front of her and risen up onto her toes in that way she did when she was excited. Yu watched her with an indulgent smile as he leaned back against the table, palms bracing him up against the wood.

"Though, we didn't do it this year," she continued on, losing some of her steam. "I think it's only for the littler kids. I wanted to dress as Loveline..."

Now fully put out, she dropped back onto her heels and fisted her hands in her dress, dropping her gaze to the floor. Yu watched her without reaction or comment, and his silence prompted her to look up again. For a moment they locked eyes, and then Nanako flustered.

"It's okay, though... I'm not sad! I've got homework, and there's the housework, too."

With a hum, Nanako moved to her usual spot on the tatami, kneeling down in front of her still-open schoolbooks. Yu looked down at the costumes on the table, thoughtful.

"Give me a moment, Nanako. I'll be right back."

When she gave him an only-slightly-curious hum of assent, Yu smiled at her before stepping outside, carefully shutting the door behind him as he pulled out his phone.

 

* * *

 

"You want to _what?_ "

"There's a few hours left in the evening. If we work quickly, I'm sure we could manage something."

"I mean ... yeah, probably, but that's not the point! Don't you get how dangerous this is? This stuff isn't a joke, partner."

"I never said it was. I just said it was an opportunity for us to be ourselves with no one the wiser. What's the harm in that?"

"Uh, you mean aside from _everything?_ I don't know, what about if they figure it out?"

"Would _you_ assume Yukiko was a real witch just because she dressed as one?"

Silence, for a moment.

"Her food definitely tastes like some kind of hellish brew," came the mulish retort. More clearly: "You're still missing the point!"

"Am I?"

"Dude, you know Naoto-kun's been giving both of us the stink eye ever since she joined up, right? She's onto us! And you want to give her _more_ hints?"

"If anything, I think it might throw her off the trail. After all, we'd never be stupid enough to reveal ourselves that way, right?"

The silence this time was thunderous.

"Sometimes I wonder if you listen to yourself," Yosuke murmured distantly. With a huge sigh he continued, "You're not gonna let this go, are you?"

"I was just thinking it might be nice to just be ourselves, even for a few hours. It’s not like the others won’t be dressed up as well. Still, if you're uncomfortable, I won't force you."

"Well, when you put it like that... urgh, now I feel like the bad guy here!"

"You're not. We'll find something else to wear."

"Yeah, like what? That magician's uniform is gonna fit you perfectly, I checked, and as for me, well, I couldn't find anything else anyway."

"Yosuke..."

"No! Look, I've decided. We're doing it. ... man, why do I feel like I just fell for some reverse psychology crap?"

Yu's smile was in his voice.

"... you checked, huh?"

"What? ... shut up!"

 

* * *

 

It took quite a few more phone calls to get all the arrangements in place. Yosuke and Chie (plus an entourage consisting solely of Teddie, there “to keep an eye on the loot!”) agreed to run to Junes while Yu met Rise, Yukiko, and Kanji over at Tatsumi Textiles for some last minute adjustments. Naoto offered, without having to be asked, to head to the police station and take care of things there.

"I can't believe Yosuke-kun found costumes for all of us when only you were doing the event in the first place, Yu-kun..."

Yukiko was holding up the slip of fabric that passed for Rise’s dress with a perfectly blank look on her face. Yu could see a cooking experiment in his best friend's future, and said a silent prayer for his health.

"Yeah, and he did a shit job of it! What the hell is this store bought crap?" Kanji, red in the face and with several pins clamped between his teeth, sounded even angrier with his jaw shut like that. "I coulda made something way better with a little more time! Why didn't ya warn me, senpai?!"

"We just decided on this tonight," Yu offered, contrite. "I would have given you more warning if I could."

"Ahh, well." Kanji simmered down, holding up the child-sized pink dress he'd been pinning. "Anything for Nanako-chan, right?"

"Right!" Rise was all sunshine and fierce determination as she furnished Kanji with ribbons, thread, and bolts of fabric as he made requests. "We'll make this the best Halloween Nanako-chan's ever had! Don't you worry about that, senpai!" She shot him a flirty wink, earning a crooked smile in return. "Little Devil Risette is here to make all your wishes come true!"

Kanji choked, nearly inhaling one of the pins still in his mouth, and Rise flew into a flurry of concerned admonition while Yukiko simply set the dress down with a sigh and resumed work on an element of her own costume, namely: her big, floppy witch hat.

"Yes. For Nanako-chan," she murmured, but the way she stabbed her hat with her needle was a bit more forceful than necessary.

Yu simply kept his head down while his friends laughed and yelled and talked, focused on his own sewing project, but he couldn’t keep the tiny, heartwarmed smile off his face.

 

* * *

 

Yosuke and Chie, meanwhile, were having issues.

"Ted! _Ted,_ will you just- _give me that bag of candy!"_

"Nuh uh!"

Chie stood to one side with a fist propped on her hip, a somewhat uncertain frown curving the bow of her mouth while she watched the two boys struggle with a bag of candy, now being tugged back and forth between them.

"You guys..."

"Come on, you dumb bear! You can’t keep this all to yourself!"

"Yoooosukeeee! Why can’t I have just _one_ little bag of candy? We can get more for Nana-chan, can’t we?"

"You _guys_..."

"Forget it! The _last_ thing I want is _you_ hopped up on sugar for the next week! No way!"

"What if I _promise_ to eat it beary slowly?"

Chie’s expression flattened, and she put both her fists on her hips. Leaning forward from the waist, she barked, " _You guys!"_  loud enough to make shoppers at the complete other end of the aisle stop and stare. Both boys froze, turning their heads to stare at her.

With an irritated huff, she stomped forward and swiped the bag of candy away while they were both stunned.

"Could you both _focus?_ We’re doing this for _Nanako_ -chan, not ourselves, remember?"

She tilted her head, one eye shutting as some of the concern she’d been trying to keep quiet resurfaced.

"I know Yu-kun hasn’t really been saying anything, but I think he’s worried about her. She has been kinda sick, lately. So, could you two knuckleheads show _both_ of them a little respect and at least try to take this more seriously?"

Teddie was the first to react, his lip wobbling like he might really be close to tears. "Of... of course! I didn’t mean... I’d do _anything_ for Nana-chan!" There was a certain gravity to his voice when he said it, hidden somewhere beneath his tears and his stomping feet, that got Yosuke to look at him and sigh.

"Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. Sorry, Chie. Come on." He smiled gamely and lifted the basket still hanging from his elbow, where it had gone ignored until now, and held it out for her to toss their first (and so far only) bag of candy into. "We’ve gotta do this properly, right? For our leader’s sake, and Nanako-chan, too. They both deserve it."

"You’re darn right they do!" With her high spirits firmly back in place, Chie turned back to the racks of candy before her. "So, what else do you think Nanako-chan would like? I bet she’d love peach gummies... ooh! How about these?"

Snatching [a bag](http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/pwMAAOSwMmBVsOQl/s-l300.jpg) off the shelf, she held it up for Yosuke and Teddie to see, grinning. The bag had a sort of Halloween-y look to it, but...

"I really don’t think we should feed Nanako-chan anything habanero-flavored, Chie."

 

* * *

 

An hour later, darkness was starting to fall and most of their preparations were finished. Yu had already gotten clearance - albeit somewhat grudging - from Dojima at the very start of all this.

"You’d like to _what?"_

"Only for a small while, and we’ll bring everything needed. I know it’s an imposition, but..."

Silence had hung for a moment before Dojima huffed a breath that didn’t quite qualify as him clearing his throat.

"No, no, don’t worry about that. You’re not being an imposition, Yu. It just isn’t like you to ask for something like this."

The silence had been heavier that time, and Dojima had broken it again with a much gentler sigh. There was a smile in his voice when he spoke again.

"Course, I get why you’re doing it. Actually, I appreciate you coming up with this scheme. She tries hard, but I can still tell when Nanako’s disappointed about something. This’ll make her day. Thanks for putting it together, Yu."

"It’s no trouble at all," Yu had said, with no small amount of gratitude and relief.

Now it was time to put the whole plan into motion. Yosuke volunteered to be the one to take their special delivery down to the station, where he’d help Naoto finish up arranging what decorations they'd been able to scrounge up.  

"Speed is my thing, after all!" he said with an enormous grin. "Plus, I brought my bike. I’ll be there in no time! Just try not get too far without me, alright? I wouldn’t miss Nanako-chan in her costume for the world!"

"You better not let _Dojima-san_ hear you say that," Chie shot at him, and the two spent a moment barking and bickering while the rest of the group discussed their route and plans for that night.

"Naoto-kun is taking care of decorations, and we’ve all got our costumes... oh, Yosuke-kun!" Yukiko turned to Kanji, and he held out a carefully wrapped package of clothes. Everyone pretended not to notice he was red in the face. Turning, Yukiko placed the bundle in Yosuke’s arms with a smile.

"While you're there, it would be a great idea if both of you changed into your costumes so you can be ready to meet us."

"Good thinking, Yukiko!"

"Teddie’s already _raring to go_ _!_ The rest of you should get changed, too!"

"Hey, I’m ready, dammit! What's the girls’ excuse?"

"We’ve been busy helping, jeez!"

"Alright, everyone," Yu soothed as they all huddled around outside the Dojima residence. He was not quite ready himself, missing his cape and, according to his own prior analysis, a set of vampire teeth. "I'll go let Nanako know about the surprise. Chie, Yukiko, you're welcome to come in and get changed."

"Senpai, can we stay? I want to walk over with Nanako! She's going to look sooooo cute!" Rise was beaming, her hands balled into fists and curled over her chest, as if she were trying to contain her excitement.

"Oh, hell yeah!" Even Kanji lit up at that prospect. "Plus, uhhh, you'll need me here to help adjust her cape-"

"I was just about to suggest that," Yu said with a smile. Rise and Kanji both cheered.

"Well, guess that's my cue to go. The longer I wait the more I miss! See you soon, guys!" With a wave, Yosuke hopped on his bike and sped off. The group waved him off before letting Yu head head inside first.

"Nanako?"

True to form, she was still at the table, diligently working on her homework, though she did have the TV on in the background. She glanced up when Yu walked inside, tilting her head innocently at him.

"Big bro? I heard voices. What’s going on?"

Smiling, Yu moved over to the table, his hands held carefully behind his back, where he gripped a carefully wrapped bundle of clothes. This bundle came tucked in orange tissue paper and had a bow made of green ribbon, carefully curled with a pair of scissors and an expert hand. Steadily, he knelt in front of her, winking when she set her pencil down in order to face him. Nanako couldn’t get out more than a questioning hum before Yu presented her with her gift.

"Wow, a present! Thanks, big bro!" Nanako transformed immediately, the smile that overtook her face somehow making everything about her brighter and lighter. With careful touch she plucked at the bow and plucked apart the wrapping, and then... stopped.

"No way..." Forgetting that she’d wanted to be careful, Nanako hurriedly dug through the pile of clothes, going first for the vest and dress, which she held up with open astonishment. "Is... is this–"

"That’s right," Yu offered, shifting to sit cross-legged before her. "It’s Loveline.”

"It really is her costume! It’s soooo pretty!" Her laughter pealed in the air, and without a thought she threw herself at Yu to wrap her arms around his middle. He pulled her in close, smoothing a hand over her hair.

"Guess that means you like it."

"Like it? I love it! Thank you, big bro! I’m gonna go try it on right now!"

Still giggling breathlessly, Nanako scrambled to her feet and trotted off to her room, hugging the outfit - now in utter disarray - to her chest. Yu stood to go let his friends inside, and Rise immediately cooed at the expression on his face.

"I can tell just by looking at you that she liked it! Aw, I can’t wait to see her!" She bounded inside, followed more slowly by the rest of the gang that was still here. Kanji, already changed with costume makeup applied and all, awkwardly haunted the kitchen while Yu directed the girls to places they could go get changed. Rise leapt at the chance to make use of his room, prompting sighed "shameless" comments from Chie while Yukiko headed for the bathroom.

Before too long, Chie had her own chance to change, and they had all gathered again in the living area, Nanako included. Once everyone was ready to go, Yu excused himself to find what he claimed was the final piece. Kanji took the time to fuss a little with Nanako’s outfit, making sure it looked perfect while Nanako giggled.

"You know, his room wasn’t what I expected," Rise commented while Yu was gone.

"Oh? Tell us, what was it like?"

"Yukiko, you sound _way_ too interested in this."

"It’s just..." Rise looked thoughtful, tapping on her chin. "... how many models can one guy as busy as senpai put together, anyway?"

Yu chose that moment to return, taking the stairs down two at a time.

"All set," he said, and when he grinned, his teeth were sharp. They looked incredibly real, even when he briefly popped one off to show that it was just a mold. He even looked paler, dark rings circling his eyes and making them look a little sunken. He perfectly fit the bill of vampire.

"Ooooh! Senpai, you look so _cool!"_ Rise’s voice pitched up into a squeal, and it was with zero hesitation that she skipped over to stand beside him, hugging his arm to her chest. Yu smiled indulgently down at her while he nonetheless disengaged her grip and headed for the door.

"Thanks. Come on, everyone. We’ve got a walk ahead of us. Nanako?"

At the sound of her name Nanako bounded forward, and she curled her fingers into his hand, beaming up at him reverently.

"You’re all set?"

"Mhm! Kanji helped! This cape is nice and warm, and I made sure to put leggings on, too."

"Good girl."

"So, where’re we going, big bro?"

Yu looked back over his shoulder at all his friends with a grin, and their answering smiles prompted him to ruffle her hair with his free hand.

"You’ll see. Come on."

 

* * *

 

The walk over was largely uneventful. Most pedestrians were off the street by this time, though there were enough evening stragglers left over that they received a number of stares. Most kids their age or younger didn’t seem to mind it, and even smiled and excitedly whispered to each other as the group passed. Adults seemed to think it was a little stranger, and their whispers were a bit more critical.

The group didn’t mind. Mostly, they weren’t paying attention. They were laughing and talking amongst themselves, Yu holding one of Nanako’s hands, Rise holding the other. At one point, Kanji took Rise’s place so he and Yu could lift Nanako into the air and swing her between them, much to her yelping, laughing delight. Everyone was in high spirits, Yu and Nanako most of all.

"It’s nice to see him smiling so much," Yukiko murmured to Chie as they got close to their destination.

"No kidding. Nanako-chan, too. You know, I’m really glad we could pull this all together for them."

"Now we just have to hope that Yosuke-kun and Naoto-kun finished up in time."

"You kidding? I don’t know about Yosuke, but with Naoto-kun on the job, I’m _sure_ they got it all done!"

Meanwhile, inside the station:

"Come on, Naoto-kun. It’s not _that_ bad, is it? Kanji practically hand-crafted the thing! Besides, I need your help out here!"

Naoto glowered at him from around a corner for just a heartbeat before ducking back behind it. Yosuke found himself sighing his Exasperated Customer Service Sigh.

Things _had_ been going well, at least to start. Naoto, the first to arrive at the station by quite a wide margin, had informed the other officers and detectives of the plan, and most had been more than happy to help out. A couple of guys had even found a box of old decorations that the station had used in years past, during rare dedicated Halloween events, and offered to help Naoto get the office all set up. Dojima, still working, couldn’t do much, but offered his blessing and his thanks for all the effort.

Yosuke, once _he_ arrived, had helped to complete the plan by passing out candy for each officer to keep at their desk. That way, when Nanako walked through the station, she could trick-or-treat at every desk and get a little something. One or two guys had turned them down, too busy to participate, but that was no big deal with most of the station on board. Even Adachi had been motivated to help out, though he seemed somewhat sheepish about it.

"I mean, it’s for Nanako-chan, right?" Adachi had rubbed the back of his neck, laughing a little. "That means I gotta pitch in! Besides, pretty sure Dojima-san would chew me out if I didn’t..."

"Well, he _does_ buy dinner for you a lot, right?" Yosuke had asked, glancing over at him as they made their rounds through the station, prompted by familiarity with Yu’s stories of the younger detective turning up at dinner time.

"Hey, hey! It’s not like I ask! He just kinda drags me along... heh heh, I guess you’re right, though. Which is why I’m helping! Gotta return the favor a little bit, right?"

Yosuke had huffed a breath through his nose, smiling a little. “Whatever you say.”

With nearly the whole station pitching in, they’d actually finished early, which had given Yosuke and Naoto plenty of time to change into their costumes. Yosuke hadn’t had any issues at all, emerging from the bathroom with furry paws, tail, and all. He found himself tugging on the spiked collar with some uncertainty, but ultimately left it on, despite repeated gripes about how it "felt weird" to be wearing it.

Naoto had taken her costume with polite gratitude and went to change, too.

Ten minutes passed before Yosuke realized she’d actually just disappeared entirely.

It took him some time to track down the bathroom she’d vanished into, and then he found himself awkwardly hovering in front of the door, wondering if he should knock. In the end, he backed away a few steps and simply called her name, which was rewarded with a,

"I– I’ll be right there!"

"Naoto-kun, the others are going to be here any minute! What’s the holdup?"

"I... it’s just... please, give me a little more time!"

With a shrug, Yosuke had left.

Which got them where they were right now. Naoto _had_ eventually emerged, only to end up leaning uncertainly around a corner, her face bright red, before hiding away again.

Sighing expansively, Yosuke pulled out his phone. Judging by the time... Yu, Nanako, and the others would be here _soon._ Tucking it away, he went to recline against the wall, not even trying to lean around it and sneak a peak. He knew he’d only get hurt for his troubles if he did... and besides, if she was _this_ embarrassed, he didn’t want to push her. He’d learned _something_ from the beauty pageant, and that something was that feminine retribution was swift and terrible. (And also what he’d done was wrong, etc etc etc.)

"Look, whatever it is, I’m sure you look great, alright?" Yosuke tilted his head, smiling a little and hoping it turned up in his voice, the way it always did for Yu. "There’s no way Kanji would make you something _that_ embarrassing. I mean, he acts tough sometimes, but he’s not exactly the King of Confidence himself, you know?"

It had taken Yosuke a long time to figure that fact out, but it was true: Kanji, for all his bluster and yelling, could actually be pretty insecure. Yu had given him a strange look the one time he brought it up, as if that should have been obvious, but it never really was to Yosuke. What had seemed obvious to him was that someone that intimidating should never be cowed by _anybody,_ but it’d turned out to be pretty much the opposite.

"I... I know that...” Naoto sounded sheepish. "I just ... feel silly."

"Have you _seen_ me?” Now Yosuke did laugh, lifting a paw to rub the back of his neck. "I look like somebody’s escaped pet. Pretty ridiculous. Next to me I’m sure you’ll look fine. We’re all going to be in costume, so it’s not like you’ll be alone."

There was an extended pause, and Yosuke found himself surprised to glance up and see Naoto had rounded the corner. She had one hand on the wall, the other arm crossed protectively in front of her chest, but she was there, at least. And she looked...

"... cute ..."

"What did you say?!"

"N-Nothing! Nothing at all! You, uh... you look great. And, hey, we kind of match, don’t you think? Dogs, cats..."

The look on her face was long-suffering, but eventually she huffed and smiled a little. "I suppose you’re right about that. We do make quite a pair."

"See?” Yosuke pushed off the wall, spreading his hands– well, paws. "Nothing to be afraid of. Now come on, let’s head up to the front so we can meet Yu and the others!"

"Yes, you’re right.” Naoto’s smile was genuine now, and she stepped up by his side. "I was being childish. Thank you, Yosuke-senpai."

"Well, hey, uh." Flustered, he grinned at her. "Anytime."

He wouldn't make it out now to help Yu and the others walk Nanako here, but, well, that was alright.

 

* * *

 

"Happy Halloween!"

This came from Yosuke as Yu and the rest of the group finally stepped inside the station. Paper bats dangled from the ceiling, and the entranceway was strung with orange and black streamers. Naoto hung back, a warm, smiling shadow.

"W-wow! Thanks, Yosuke-nii!" A glowing Nanako broke away from Yukiko and Chie, who’d taken their own turns holding her hands, to dart over to him. Laughing, Yosuke knelt so she could throw her arms around his neck.

"Hehe, you’re all fuzzy!"

"That’s right." Yosuke beamed at her, with just a hint of pride. "Think I make a good guard dog?"

"I think you make the _best_ guard dog!" For emphasis, she patted his head, making the rest of the group start to laugh. Yosuke took it in stride, sticking his tongue out just a little and winking at her.

"Guess that makes it my job to protect you, then."

"Yeah, you and big bro!"

"Don’t forget _Teddie!"_  Teddie barreled forward, ignoring indignant gasps from the girls. His bear-head had been transformed into jack-o-lantern, and even though his expression was obscured by it, he still struck what he seemed to think was a dashing pose. "I’ll always be here to look after Nana-chan!"

"Hey, we’re gonna protect her, too!" Chie’s voice was some mix of sulky and indignant, and Yukiko eagerly added, "yeah, we can help!"

"We’ll _all_ be there for her," said Yu, trying to put a stop to what was starting to look like a contest.

"Alright, alright, settle down, everyone." Dojima appeared, frazzled but a little pleased, to greet the group. "You’ve only got the next hour, so make it count. Yu, I expect you to keep an eye on your friends. Don’t cause the guys still working any problems, alright?"

"Yeah, of course." Yu’s calm conviction seemed, at least, to reassure the detective, and his expression softened.

Before Nanako could ask if they were fighting, Dojima knelt down and held his arms open to her. Though she’d had many reasons this evening to light up in glee, in this moment she was brightest of all. With a grateful noise, she dove into her dad’s arms, and burrowed into his chest as he laughed.

"Hey, you look great, Loveline. Have fun tonight, okay?"

"Okay, dad!"

"What’re we still standing around here for? You heard the man, we’ve only got an hour!" Rise took this moment to step forward, and she bent over slightly at the waist to give Nanako an idol-watt smile. "You ready?"

"Mmhmm!" Nanako bounced on her toes, reaching for Rise’s hand. "Let’s go!"

Once they’d arrived at the station, Yu had explained that they’d be trick-or-treating here, much to his little cousin’s amazement. With everyone now in on the evening’s surprise, Yukiko, Chie, and Teddie crowded around as Rise took the lead. They were promptly followed by Kanji and Naoto, neither of whom could seem to look fully at the other. That left Yu and Yosuke to bring up the back of the group.

"Don’t you want to be up front with the girls and Nanako?" Yosuke asked, glancing at his partner curiously.

Yu, with a satisfied smile on his face and his eyes locked on the gaggle of girls (and bear), shook his head. "I don’t mind watching for a little bit. I’ll catch up." His smile slipped into something more thoughtful as he glanced over at Yosuke instead, eying him up and down. "You look great, but... are you feeling alright?"

"Who, me?" Yosuke puffed his chest out, making his fur ruff even more pronounced. "Yeah, of _course_ I am! Why wouldn’t I be?"

Yu didn’t say anything, and Yosuke let his shoulders fall again into a more relaxed position.

"Dude, it’s really alright. Naoto-kun was so flustered by her costume I don’t think she even noticed."

That got Yu to huff a quiet breath through his nose. Ducking his head, he carefully passed a hand in front of his mouth before letting it fall to tuck into his pocket, instead. Only Yosuke picked up on the sleight of hand that had just taken place.

When Yu smiled again, it was still with fangs. This time, though, they weren’t plastic.

"Well, that’s good to hear."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yosuke and Naoto being friends is, like, personally important to me.


	2. interlude: six incidents

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things get a bit darker and a lot gayer in this backstory, but the next chapter will be like the first.
> 
> In case it needs stating: the cat will be fine, I promise.

It was a Thursday evening, not too different from any of the other increasingly chill evenings as September settled in, and a few of the normal things were sitting on Yu’s coffee table beside them. School books, the TV remote, a glass of water, a small, empty bowl, a sealed gauze pad, and a roll of self-adhesive wrap.

The usual.

Yosuke was sitting perched on the arm of the couch, his heels dug into the couch cushion beneath him and his chin resting in his palm as he critically stared his best friend down. Yu looked wan, even more ashen than his usual pallor, and really like he could pass out at any moment. Yosuke knew – was the only one that knew, of course – that it’d been over a week since Yu had last eaten. _Really_ eaten, anyway. Of course he was showing the wear and tear of starving himself in favor of pushing the team to save Naoto.

"Dude, I’m not sure why you’re holding back. You _know_ I’ll be fine. You look like you’re gonna collapse."

Yu’s expression soured. "You know why. We’re in the middle of a rescue. I don’t want you feeling–"

"What, and it’s okay that _you_ feel like garbage? Bullshit. We need _you_ more than anyone to be in top form. I can always switch out with, like, Kanji or whoever until I’m feeling up to fighting again, if it even comes to that. You’re just being stubborn."

Yu only stared at the table with narrowed eyes.

In response, Yosuke held out his wrist with a somewhat flat expression. "You remember I heal faster than the others, right? At least this way I _might_ look as tired as everyone else does."

If anything, Yu looked even less convinced, and Yosuke sighed heavily through his nose.

"Partner, we’ve been doing things this way for months and it’s never been a problem. It’s not like we haven’t done this during a rescue before. I’ll be fine!"

Yu kept quiet, but the weight on his mind pulled his brow down low. Yosuke’s own frown turned sharp, and he shifted to sit on the couch properly, his knees bunched up to his chest, looking his friend in the eye.

"You really want to put the team in danger just because you’re feeling stubborn about it? Dude, you look like hell."

"Thanks," Yu croaked, his voice dull. Easing up a little, Yosuke reached out to grip his shoulder instead, giving it a squeeze that he knew would get Yu to look him in the eye. He smiled just a little when it did.

"Come on, partner. I’m way better off in this situation than you are and you know it. Let me help you out, okay?"

Yu’s expression was tough to read in that moment, even for him, but what he did manage to pick up on – resignation and some small relief – was more than enough. Smiling more brightly this time, Yosuke let one of his legs drop to the floor and again held out his wrist, twisted so that the inside of it, pale and soft, was held up towards the light.

It was never, Yosuke thought with some strange feeling he couldn’t place, with any sort of pomp or circumstance that Yu did this sort of thing. And he certainly didn’t break tradition now: if anything, he put even less finesse into it than usual, simply leaning forward and latching his teeth loosely onto Yosuke’s wrist. The seal of his lips was strangely cool, just like the rest of him. For a moment, there wasn’t even any sting, and Yu’s eyes were closed. Before he could wonder aloud _uh, bro, you still awake?_ there came the tell-tale pinprick pinch, and Yosuke swallowed. Watching Yu feed with his eyes closed was pretty weird.

But it was always this weird. Somehow, something right out of movies he’d watch as a kid became something completely mundane.

Yu treated it like something normal, like something that was simply a necessity and nothing more or less than that, like drinking water or breathing. Yu had never shot him any predatory looks just before he sank his teeth down (and why would he?), had never set to feast with any kind of flourish at all. "I’m not as exciting as Dracula," he’d once said with a smile. Though there had been that one time when Yosuke heard "itadakimasu" murmured over his skin, and he’d recoiled so hard he’d nearly backhanded Yu in the face. His only reward had been his friend’s quiet laughter. That had been one of his earlier examples of Yu’s weird sense of humor.

It didn’t really _feel_ like anything, either. Yosuke wasn’t too familiar with needles, having been pretty healthy most of his life, but he remembered enough of them to know that was pretty much exactly what getting bitten by Yu felt like. It barely even hurt, past the initial puncture. It was just something he could _feel_ inside his skin. And it wasn’t as if there was any physical sense associated with his _blood_ draining, which had been his most macabre thought when they’d first agreed to this arrangement. That he might somehow ... _feel_ it as Yu sucked his blood out.

But there wasn’t any feeling to it at all. It was just like getting his blood drawn that one time a few years ago when he’d gotten really sick. It was ... just kind of boring, actually.

And that was weird. How could a vampire feeding off him feel so average?

He got pulled from his musings when a sleepy-eyed but visibly improved Yu sat up, discreetly wiping his mouth as he murmured, "would you mind if we saved a little for Kohi-san?"

Yosuke’s wrist was still bleeding freely, blood that Yu was catching in the small bowl that had been waiting for just this moment. This was the only part that was unlike that one blood test he remembered from those years ago. Yu had explained it once, something about "anti-coagulant properties," but it hadn’t really stuck. He just knew he’d keep bleeding for a while unless they put pressure on the puncture holes to stop it.

"Uhhh, yeah, that’s fine," he blurted out before he could think better of it. And then his face twisted up.

"You're still taking care of that thing, huh?"

"Him," Yu said patiently, keeping a watchful eye on the level of blood in the bowl. When he deemed there to be enough, he picked up the gauze and bandage from the table, deftly binding Yosuke’s wrist up before he even had time to much react, outside of,

"Him?"

"Kohi-san is a boy, Yosuke, I’ve told you before."

"Wh– oh. I mean ... right, sure. It’s just, I’m kinda surprised you’re so dedicated to it. Considering..."

Yu’s pale face flushed just a little, his gaze darting off somewhere to the right. "... it’s true I don’t exactly associate pleasant memories with it. But that’s all the more reason to look after him," he said firmly. "I... _sired_ him, after all." The word sounded as awkward as Yu looked saying it. "I ... I’m supposed to take care of him."

For a second, Yosuke watched Yu fidget, his gaze falling to the way Yu’s free hand fiddled nervously with the hem of his shirt, lifting again to the way Yu kept looking anywhere but at him.

With a huge sigh Yosuke flung out his arms and leaned back against the arm of the couch, shutting his eyes.

"Yeah, whatever excuse you want to tell yourself. You know you’d look after it anyway. Just like you do with every single other stray cat that’s ever wandered through Inaba."

Yosuke couldn’t see him now, but he could hear the smile in Yu’s voice that indicated his best friend had allowed himself to relax.

"Guilty as charged."

"I still can’t believe you sired a cat, though." Yosuke sat up just enough to be able to look at Yu again.

"I was panicking," Yu sighed, standing to clear away the medical supplies. "I was also very, very hungry."

Yosuke waved him off before he could do more mental gymnastics trying to justify that night. They’d been over it a few times by now, and Yu’s quiet terror and awful guilt never abated.

"I’m kidding, I’m kidding. It’s just so ... _you._ "

"Is it?" Yu looked amused as he stood there, with a bowl of warm blood cupped in his hands like it was completely normal.

"Are you kidding? Fearsome vampire lord Yu Narukami comes to Inaba, and the first thing he does is ... sire a stray cat. Like, that’s probably the most _you_ thing I’ve ever heard."

"You’re one to talk." Yu headed for the door, poking his head out into the hallway to ensure the coast was clear before pulling it all the way open. But there he paused, smirking at Yosuke over his shoulder.

"Interested in another roll in the garbage? We could head out right now and–"

"Shut up, jerk! That was only twice! Twice! Both times were an accident! I _told_ you my instincts took over– Will you just go?!"

He could hear Yu laughing all the way down the stairs.

 _Well,_ Yosuke thought with some triumph as he settled down on the couch, a certain tiredness sweeping through him the way it always did after a feeding, _at least he looks better. Good._

By the time Yu returned, Yosuke was fast asleep.

 

* * *

 

It all began through a series of almost impossible accidents. Yu would later say it felt like fate brought them together, and Yosuke would almost not quite know how to feel about that until Yu followed it up with some blasé quip about the banana peels. Naturally Yosuke would reward that jab with an elbow to the gut, things would descend into roughhousing (or, rather, something else entirely), and the subject would get dropped.

Still, it had sort of felt like that, hadn’t it?

Fate.

The first incident involved them running into each other, little though either had known it at the time, on Yu’s very first day in town. After feeling queasy at the gas station on the way home, he’d decided to wander around the shopping district until he felt steady again. About halfway down the road, he’d passed a somewhat imposing shop staffed by a fierce looking older man, and...

A dog. At least, the back half of a dog, as the front half was entirely consumed by the garbage can it had presumably upended and was now snuffling around inside of, fawn-colored tail wagging at a high speed. Yu had stopped to stare at it, blinking, and watched as it awkwardly wiggled its way back out into freedom.

There was a banana peel on its head.

With a great whole-body shake that loosed the banana peel and some other assorted pieces of trash, the dog had paused, smiled up at him, and gone trotting away. Halfway down the street it bolted as a local police officer, noticing the trash strewn everywhere, ran after it yelling about strays.

 _... I’d better just leave it alone,_ Yu had thought before heading back.

The second incident was different, and did not involve Yosuke at all. Instead, he and Nanako had been alone in the house that same night after Dojima had gotten the call to head into work. Yu had been contemplating simply heading to bed early to be ready for his first day of school tomorrow when they heard a commotion outside. It sounded like a crash, and it was nearby. Nanako said nothing, but even Yu, who didn’t know her at all, could see the way her shoulders hunched. Promising to check it out, he’d stepped outside and made sure to shut the door behind him.

The street was empty. Curious, wondering what could have made a sound like that, Yu stepped away from the house, moving slowly up the gentle incline of the street and right past the narrow gap between the Dojima house and their neighbors’.

He never saw what grabbed him and yanked him off the street, and would never find out. All he knew was pain, awful and tearing, piercing his neck. He’d choked, nearly screamed, but some instinct kept him from making a sound. A drugged up, dopey feeling had swept through him after that, and he’d stopped trying to struggle. The next thing he knew, he was waking up on the ground, and he was alone. The sky was the same color. There was no one else on the street. How much time had passed?

Yu scrambled to his feet, touching his hand to his neck reflexively, and he jumped when his fingers came away wet. _Blood._ He was bloody.

It had taken some thinking for him to get back into the house without suspicion. He buttoned up his jacket and his shirt all the way, telling Nanako that it was just because of the chill and he hadn’t seen anything at all outside, and found a way to excuse himself upstairs without spending too much time explaining himself to her. It was only barely enough. The lining of his school uniform and his button-up had both been darkly stained with blood, and he’d been forced to stay up late that night soaking both in cold water and scrubbing them out with soap. He was able to wear a different shirt the next day, but his uniform collar was still damp. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice.

With the simple bandages over the ... puncture holes? ... in his neck hidden beneath his popped collar, Yu simply tried to put the whole strange incident out of his mind. If he felt sick or they looked like they were getting infected, he’d go to the doctor. But he didn’t want Dojima to know he’d left the house unless it was unavoidable, and Nanako, well ... she'd be safe if she didn't venture outside by herself at night. Yu would make sure of that much.

The third incident happened the day Yosuke and Yu really met, which was the second day of school. Yosuke went careening past him on an out of control bike and landed directly, improbably face-first, in a trash can.

Moved by a sense of pity, Yu pulled him free, and Yosuke spent a minute mumbling and cursing as he brushed trash off of his uniform. A banana peel had landed on his coat.

"Huh," Yu murmured before he could stop himself.

"'Huh'? What’s huh?" Yosuke popped to his feet, looking curious.

"Oh, no, it’s nothing. This is just the second time in two days I’ve seen someone get a banana peel on them after being stuck in the garbage." A pause, and, "well, you and a dog."

A funny look had come over Yosuke in that moment that Yu wouldn’t be able to decipher until some time later. Yosuke laughed in an awkward way, his voice breaking when he said, "haha, wow, what a weird coincidence! Aaaanyway, hey, I should thank you for rescuing me!"

The other boy carried on the conversation almost single-handedly with an unbridled, sunshiney enthusiasm, and Yu simply let him, putting the strange incident out of his mind. Things had gotten busy after that, anyway.

Not to mention he had his own problems to deal with.

All throughout the week he and his new friends spent figuring out the brand new and all completely crazy problem that was the Midnight Channel, Yu felt himself growing weak and tired. Even Dojima commented on how pale he seemed, noting the unusually prominent dark circles under his eyes, and insisted he get rest if he was getting sick. Yu didn’t _feel_ sick, though. _It’s like ... I feel empty._

He’d tried getting more rest, drinking plenty, and ensuring the foods he ate were healthy. But nothing helped. On their third day in Yukiko’s Castle, the fourth incident happened. Yu collapsed after their very first battle, causing Yosuke and Chie to team up and carry him back out through the entrance.

"Oh no, sensei! He looks beat... but you guys have bearly started!"

"Yeah, I know." Yosuke’s voice was thick with concern as he stared at their leader, whose arm was over his shoulder and whose head hung low. "Listen, you two, I’m gonna take him home. Satonaka, I know you’re worried, but we need him if we’re gonna rescue Amagi-san. Maybe we can come back tomorrow."

Chie had looked unconvinced, but concern for Yu won out. "Well... okay. You better rest up, Narukami! ... we can’t wait too much longer."

Yu hadn’t said a word to either of them. He didn’t know how to admit later that he’d actually passed out again, albeit briefly.

Yosuke took him all the way home, and Dojima wasn’t yet home to interrogate them. Nanako was, but they managed to get past her with quick excuses of sports after school tiring them both out (never mind that Yosuke wasn’t _in_ a sport, Nanako didn’t know that, Yosuke had reasoned). Once they’d gotten up to Yu’s room, Yosuke had bustled around fetching things while Yu sat on the couch with his head hanging between his shoulders. Yosuke had to keep stopping to ask Yu where things were, given that they weren’t all that familiar with each other yet and this was actually the first time Yosuke had visited his house, but eventually they got Yu set up on the couch, lying down under a blanket.

Yosuke pushed the table back and sat on the floor next to the couch, watching his friend with concern.

"... hey, dude, I’ve been meaning to ask you something."

"Hm?" Yu opened his eyes just a slit and glanced over, his breaths shallow and slow.

"Well, uh... it’s just... okay, this is going to sound really, really weird, but just roll with it, okay? G... give me your hand."

Surprised, Yu blinked his eyes open a little wider. After a moment of staring that yielded no answers other than a slowly spreading blush across the bridge of Yosuke’s nose, Yu obliged and held his hand out. With a strangely focused look, Yosuke reached out and took it in both of his own.

"... thought so," he said quietly, his expression serious now. He met Yu’s eyes again. "This is gonna get weirder, but I promise it’s important. I’m gonna need access to something that isn’t your hand. Like, your arm? Even your collarbone or something…"

Finally, Yu started to frown, and he struggled to sit up only for Yosuke to push him back down.

"Oh no you don’t! Look, dude, if you don’t want to, it’s fine–"

"No, it’s alright. But you’ll tell me what this is about, won’t you?"

"Yes," Yosuke confirmed in a relieved rush. "Just... let me, alright?"

With only a beat of hesitation, Yu nodded, allowing Yosuke to pull down the blanket over him. The other boy’s fingers ghosting over his chest just beneath his throat made a shiver surge through his body. His fingers, they were ... burning. Why were his hands so hot?

"I knew it," Yosuke muttered, and this time he sounded downright grim. Carefully, he pulled up the collar of Yu’s shirt and replaced the blanket before sitting back on his heels. Yu merely stared at him blearily, confused beyond belief.

"Dude, I’m sure you haven’t been able to tell, but something’s ... weird. I noticed it back when we were– uh, after we fought my Shadow. You took my hand to help me up, remember? At the time I just thought you had cold hands, or something. But seeing how pale you’ve been, and what I confirmed just now... it’s not just your hands. _All_ of you is cold. Really cold. Like ... I don’t think _any_ one is supposed to be that kind of cold, cold."

Yu simply stared at him. He had no idea how to process this information. Something was wrong with his ... body temperature? Was he really sick after all? He frowned, staring up at the ceiling.

"... I wonder if something came of that after all."

"Huh? What’re you talking about?"

Pushing himself up on one elbow and refusing Yosuke’s help when the other scrambled to try and lift him, Yu steadied himself and told the story of what had happened the night he arrived. The noise outside, the pain in his neck, collapsing, all the blood. Yosuke’s eyes widened incrementally until Yu could see their startled whites. By the end of it, Yosuke didn’t just seem worried. He actually looked scared.

"Say, Narukami... could I, uh... have a look at where you got bit?"

"What? Sure." Yu tugged his collar aside and tilted his head so that Yosuke would have a clear view of his neck. Yosuke recoiled from the still-healing bites, landing hard on his ass in the middle of the floor and actually colliding with the table behind him. It made quite a racket, and Yu made to reach out to him before dizziness swept over him and he had to simply lie down again, instead.

"Holy shit. Holy shit, holy shit, oooooh crap," Yosuke was hissing, curling over to tangle a hand in his hair.

Yu couldn’t begin to understand why the other boy was freaking out. Did Yosuke know something he didn’t? If he knew what had bitten Yu, he should really just say it. Yu meant to tell him exactly that, but he was so... so tired, just from the small effort of sitting up again. It felt like all he could do just to watch Yosuke panic on his floor, unable to offer reassurances or tell him to calm down or anything at all.

Thankfully, Yosuke got control over himself in due time anyway. Swallowing hard, he lifted himself back up on his knees and scooted back over to the edge of the couch, looking terrified but resolute. Without the least bit of fanfare, he shoved his wrist in Yu’s face.

"Bite this."

"... I–"

"Just do it!" Yosuke’s voice was sharp. "You’ll figure it out once you do! Actually, wait–"

Yosuke twisted his arm up so he could lift his wrist to his own mouth and bit down. Yu watched in mortified wonder as Yosuke actually worried at his wrist for a moment, something about the motions bizarrely doglike, until his shoulders jumped in a wince. When he pulled his head away, his lips were streaked with dark red, and his wrist was–

–bleeding.

The dizziness burst in his mind like a bubble to coat every thought and every process, cloying stickiness clinging to his synapses. Yu’s head was swimming crazily. Something about the metallic tang of blood filling the air... now that it wasn’t his own, it smelled _incredible._ Appetizing wasn’t the word. But a primal lust for it fogged his mind until he couldn’t think, couldn’t even form words. He just struggled to sit up, trying to reach Yosuke’s wrist. He didn’t have the strength to fight when Yosuke pushed him back down, murmuring soothing words that Yu couldn’t understand. In a moment, warm skin was pressed to his lips. Yu tasted blood.

He bit down.

A few quiet minutes passed. Eventually, Yu became aware of Yosuke’s hand pressed to his forehead, warm and firm, holding him down. There was skin and blood in his mouth, and he somehow found that his teeth were ... _attached_ to Yosuke’s wrist. Instinctively he recoiled, making Yosuke hiss, and ran his tongue over his teeth.

They were _sharp._ Sharp enough that he cut his tongue.

Yu flinched again, and when he did he felt something in his jaw _shift._ The sound it made was wet, and when Yu ran his tongue over his teeth again, the two points of sharpness – fangs? – were gone.  

With pure, unadulterated horror flooding his veins, Yu stared at Yosuke, utterly speechless. Yosuke was staring at his wrist, clicking his tongue at the still-flowing blood.

"Hang on a sec, okay?"

Without stopping to acknowledge the utter insanity that had just taken place, Yosuke hopped to his feet and headed for the door with his free hand cupped under his wrist, poking his head out to make sure no one was in the hallway before stepping out. This left Yu alone, with blood on his lips and fangs hiding in his jaw and the abiding sense that everything was _wrong._

_I... I was... drinking his... blood..._

_Am... am I...?_

Yosuke returned a few minutes later. "Okay, it’s all cleaned up now, and– holy shit, dude, are you okay?"

Yu had curled up into a ball on the couch, one arm tightly circled behind his neck pulling his head down, the other circled low around his shins. Yosuke quickly dropped to his knees beside the couch again, one of his hands carefully finding Yu’s shoulder.

"Look, man, it’s fine, I’m alright, don’t–"

"It’s _not alright._ " Yu’s voice was ragged. "I..."

Sighing heavily through his nose, Yosuke sat on his heels. "Okay, yeah. I guess it’s not fine. I was kinda hoping you’d be as unfazed by this as all the other weird shit we’ve been through so far, but I guess it’s pretty understandable you’re freaking out, huh?"

Yu lifted his head, and his stare was a thousand yards dead. Yosuke only grimaced, and Yu hid his face in his knees again.

There was a pause, an intake of breath like Yu wanted to say something. In the end, he said nothing at all, shaking his head tightly and curling up, if anything, into an even smaller ball.

"You should go," he finally croaked.

"... look, I know we still don’t know each other that well yet, but I can’t just–"

"I’ll be fine." Yu’s voice was curt and heavy with finality. "You know the way out, don’t you?"

For a moment, there was a silence, one filled with the tension of things unsaid and sour feelings. Yu didn’t see Yosuke get up, but he could hear it as his friend headed for the door.

"Look, man, you have my number. Call me if you need anything, alright?"

Yu could hear him sigh a few moments later when he didn’t get an answer and let himself out of the room.

The fifth incident took place just a few hours later. Yu tried to tell himself that what blood Yosuke had given ( _fed, he_ fed _you_ ) was enough, but as the hours went on, his dizziness returned, and it became clear he hadn’t allowed himself to have enough. He started to feel sick again, and now his emptiness was starting to feel like pangs instead of an all-over exhaustion. More than that, now that he’d tasted blood – real, live, human blood – the craving for more was driving him up the walls. He could hear Dojima come home. He could hear Nanako talking to him. He could hear the two of them moving around. Living, breathing, warm–

Torn between horrified panic and literal blood lust, Yu nearly tore his room to shreds trying to keep himself from attacking his own uncle and cousin. Years passed, in his estimation, mad endless buzzing years before he heard the click of Dojima’s door indicating his uncle had finally come upstairs to sleep, meaning Nanako had been put to bed in her room, too.

He didn’t have any clear idea of what happened after that. Later, when he thought back, nothing came to him between a vague awareness of shredding anything in his room that he could physically pull apart and then, all at once, being outside in the cool darkness of the night, kneeling along an empty road with a fluffy, still, sticky bundle resting in his lap.

It took him a long minute to really look around and get his bearings. Outside... he’d gone outside. He couldn’t even really place where he was, not recognizing the street in the middle of the night. And in his lap...

Nausea slammed into Yu when he realized what he’d done. It was a kitten. A kitten was unmoving in his lap, its fur matted with blood. He... he must have...

Panic swept through him all over again, violent enough to make him lean over and throw up on the road. Near tears, shaking, he’d done the first thing his instincts screamed at him to do: he sank his fangs into the kitten all over again, burying his face in its still-warm fur.

He wasn’t really quite sure what he expected to happen, or what he’d be able to accomplish like this. He’d been operating solely on the desperate wish to not have mauled a stray kitten so badly he killed it.

When the kitten had stirred in his arms, starting to breathe weakly before all at once beginning to purr, Yu had burst into tears. He’d curled over there in the road, wet with blood, heaving with silent sobs as the kitten stretched and moved and started to lick his cheek, for a long time.

Sneaking back home hadn’t been the hard part. Sneaking the kitten home with him, cleaning it up, and trying to put his almost totally destroyed room back in order had been.

He got no sleep that night, and he avoided eye contact with Yosuke the following day.

The sixth incident was just a few days after that. Yukiko had been rescued, and Yu felt alright for most of those days. By the middle of the following week, though, he was starting to get weak all over again. The kitten he’d attacked was doing just fine, but it was, Yu had realized, now _also_ a vampire, just like he was. He couldn’t feed off it again even if he wanted to. Some new instinct told him he’d get sick if he tried. In fact, the poor thing was starting to get hungry too, constantly turning up near the house and mewling piteously. Yu had no idea how to feed himself, much less the kitten he’d inadvertently made dependent on him. Though he tried his best to keep up appearances, he found himself increasingly moodier and more withdrawn as the days wore on and he ran through, and discarded, ever more options.

On Thursday, at lunch, Yosuke finally cornered him.

"Hey, Narukami. Listen, you... you’re not looking so hot again."

They were on the roof. Yosuke had asked Yu to eat lunch with him, but the look in his eye had told Yu it wasn’t really a request. Reluctantly, he’d agreed, not wanting to involve Yosuke in his affairs again. He didn’t know how to admit it, but–

"Dude, it’s not like you turned _me._ "

Yu stared at him. Yosuke smirked, folding his arms over his chest and leaning back.

"Worried about it, weren’t you? You know, you’re not that tough a guy to read, now that I’m getting used to you. Well, I’m not a vampire. Look, fang-free." Yosuke bared his teeth. They were remarkably flat. Yu stared at him some more until Yosuke started to shift self-consciously.

"... hey, don’t make _me_ feel like the weirdo for showing you. You were the one wondering about it."

Yu let a few of his edges soften and sighed gustily. "No, you’re right. I’m sorry, Hanamura. I’ve just been so worried about this whole situation. I ... haven’t mentioned it, but after you left that night, I ... attacked something."

Yosuke stiffened, his chest expanding with a slow breath. " _Shit,_ dude. Who was it?"

Yu shook his head. "I ... it was a kitten."

Yosuke paused. "A... you drank blood from a cat?"

Shrugging helplessly, Yu nodded. "I guess so."

After a beat, Yosuke snorted indelicately. “Well, alright. What happened to it?”

"It’s alive, just... it’s like me, now. I ... I don’t know how to feed both of us."

"Uh, hello?" Yosuke waved a hand in front of Yu’s face."I’m right here, dude."

Yu recoiled. "Hanamura, I can’t–"

"Like hell you can’t." Yosuke leaned forward, right into Yu’s space, making Yu reflexively lean back. "I’m probably the _only_ person you can feed on safely."

"Wh... what are you talking about?"

His mouth working, Yosuke glanced furtively around the roof. Reassured they were alone, Yosuke wiggled his fingers.

"This."

With absolutely no warning, the hand he was holding up turned into a paw.

Yosuke paused for a beat, then shook his paw out, somehow returning it to a hand. He stood, stretched his arms over his head, and tilted his head back, shutting his eyes with a sigh. And then where Yosuke had been, there was suddenly a dog, instead. It was fawny in color, with bright, friendly eyes. Yu realized with a jolt that it was the same color as Yosuke’s hair. It wagged its tail excitedly as Yu stared down at it in astonishment.

Then, all at once, it was Yosuke in front of him once more, stretching out one of his arms and rolling his head on his shoulders.

"Yeesh. That never stops feeling weird."

"You’re a werewolf," Yu said stupidly. Yosuke stared at him, and then scoffed.

"So you turn into a vampire and it flips you out, but me turning into a dog doesn’t faze you in the slightest... figures," he muttered. Sucking in a breath, Yosuke cleared his expression and smiled somewhat crookedly, gesturing with one hand. "Yeah, that’s about the size of it. Funny enough, I got turned after I got here, too, though it was way before you showed up. Couple months ago, I guess. For a while I thought it was just a normal dog bite, you know? Then the full moon happened, and..." Yosuke winced, his smile turning uncertain. "Uh, I suddenly had to explain to my parents why I’d decided to let a stray dog in the house one night. At least I’m not dangerous... can you imagine if I’d attacked them? But anyway, since then, I’ve found out I can transform whenever I want. I can even transform partially."

With perfect comedic timing, a pair of dog ears appeared on the top of Yosuke’s head. Groaning, he lifted his hands to touch them.

"That’s not what I wanted! Ugh." Shaking his head out, he pressed the dog ears down flat to his hair, then quickly gave up on that and stuck his fingers in his human ears instead.

"I can hear through both sets of ears at once," he offered apologetically to Yu’s blank look. "Creates a serious echo. I freaking hate it. Geez, go away, will you?!"

Yosuke rolled his eyes up in his head and glared at his eyebrows until the ears disappeared _._

"So, uh, yeah. Maybe I’m more like a weredog? Anyway, thanks to all the fighting we’ve been doing, I’ve realized I heal faster than you and Chie, so you can feed off me all you want without it being a problem, and I– dude, what are you–?"

Yu was letting himself lean over until he could press his forehead into Yosuke’s shoulder. And he just stayed there for a long moment, even as Yosuke’s sputtering protests faded into silence.

"... you okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I’m just... thank you, Yosuke. I don’t know where I’d be without you."

There was a pause. Yu couldn’t see Yosuke’s face, and couldn’t quite picture what it looked like. But he found himself smiling when Yosuke offered a simple,

"Hey, man, don’t worry about it."

 

* * *

 

After the first six incidents that truly established their relationship, things fell into a somewhat regular rhythm. Once or twice a week Yosuke would come over, and in the safety of Yu’s room, they’d arrange for Yu to feed. From the very beginning Yosuke offered some of his blood to the cat, which Yu quickly thereafter named Kohi-san, in order to help take care of it, too. With Yosuke’s regular “donations,” Yu and his cat quickly improved until the both of them seemed fairly normal. Yu was always paler than he used to be, something he learned to cover through the use of makeup, and his skin was quite cool to the touch, leading him to take great pains to avoid skin-to-skin contact with anyone that wasn’t Yosuke. He started wearing long-sleeve shirts under his jersey in basketball, and would always duck out of the way when anyone came too close to touching one of his hands.

It was impossible to be perfect, but cold hands weren’t _too_ hard to explain, as long as he kept the rest of his skin fairly well covered.

He and Yosuke spent some time discussing what rules did and did not seem to apply to him. He could go out in the sun all he wanted, after all, and he ate food with garlic in it all the time. However, he’d found one of his major barriers when he’d tried to go over Yosuke’s house the first time, and found himself sick at the thought of even approaching the doorway until Yosuke had asked what his problem was and explicitly invited him inside. The feeling had quickly evaporated, and Yu realized it likely had something to do with his new nature.

"You have to be invited into homes," Yosuke had said, his nose buried in a translated copy of _Dracula._ "Apparently that’s a pretty old rule."

"It doesn’t seem to apply to places like school and Junes and the stores in the shopping district, though..."

Yosuke had thought about it for a moment before exclaiming, "That’s because they’re public places! You’re automatically invited because _everybody_ is. That’s their purpose! But not everyone is invited into a house, right?"

Yu had hummed, smiling slowly. "That’s pretty smart thinking, Yosuke."

"Yeah, yeah. Tell me something I _don’t_ know."

Over time, they learned more about Yosuke’s lycanthropy, as well. He could transform back and forth at will as much as he wanted, though it made him pretty sore to do so. But he’d transform no matter _what_ on the night of the full moon, and on those nights, it turned out he wasn’t just a cute little dog. With each full moon, he showed more and more wolfish characteristics, until eventually Yu noticed that Yosuke was a full, actual wolf.

He was just as dangerous as real wolf, too. Yu had spent that first full-wolf full moon following Yosuke though the fields beyond Inaba, chasing after him and tackling him to the ground when Yosuke seemed on the verge of running back towards civilization.

Being a vampire did not happen to grant Yu super strength or super speed. He didn’t even have enhanced endurance. If anything, he sometimes felt a little less _solid_ than before, somehow. What he did have was the fact that he, apparently, was mostly a corpse. Which meant that when he got hurt, he didn’t really feel the pain, and it didn’t slow him down much at all. He still bled like a normal person, but the bleeding was abnormally sluggish, and even if Yosuke bit down and tore, it somehow didn’t seem to do as much damage as it should have.

Still, Yu had been a bloody mess after that night, and they’d had to break into Junes at 6 AM to drag themselves into the electronics section and pretty much fall into the TV so they could patch up Yu’s wounds. Then they’d spent the hour after that cleaning up the trail of blood they’d left behind. And then they’d both had to sprint home just in time to sneak into their rooms and seem like they were just waking up for the school day to follow.

"You can’t kill what’s already dead," Yu had remarked later, to Yosuke’s mild disapproval.

As the spring wore into summer and their team grew, Yu and Yosuke got more and more accustomed to keeping their shared secret. They spent a great deal of time together, both by choice and by necessity, and the others occasionally did remark on it. Rise would pout when Yu would turn her down for plans already made with Yosuke, and Yosuke often had to juggle his shifts at Junes around with occasional help from Teddie to accommodate afternoons and evenings with Yu. If anyone thought the time they spent together was weird, including their parents and guardians, no one called them out on it.

Things came to a head sometime in August. Not long after Yosuke took him up on the hill and told him, voice careful, smile shaky, that he was _special,_ he did a total 180 and challenged him to a fight on the riverbank, instead.

_I’ve been thinking about things ever since then, when I told you that you were "special" ... I feel like ever since the beginning, I’ve been trailing behind you! But we gotta stand shoulder to shoulder..._

_... Yosuke ... I know how you feel._

_What? You’ve been jealous..._

_Of you._

_N-No way..._

_So let’s get equal._

Given both their unusual constitutions, it was a pretty strange fight, and after a while they’d both given up on it. Winded, bruised, they’d laid there peacefully until laughter at the absurdity of the situation, of their entire lives, had come over them. Once they’d talked it out a little, and gotten a chance to bask in the glow of Yosuke’s new power and transformed Persona, they found it within them to finally sit up. Neither was sure, in retrospect, who shifted until they sat very nearly hip to hip. Their shoulders touched. Yu nudged his toes into Yosuke’s. Maybe they’d both moved. Maybe it was just one. Maybe it didn’t matter. All Yu knew when he turned his head was that Yosuke’s face was remarkably close to his own, and suddenly, a great deal of things made sense.

Yosuke stopped him when he started to lean in with a hand on his shoulder, but he didn’t look disgusted so much as apprehensive. Maybe a little ... cautiously hopeful.

"Aren’t we..." Yosuke’s voice failed him, now that they were so close their breaths intermingled. "Aren’t we supposed to have some kind of blood feud?"

Yu wasn’t backing off. In fact, he was so close now Yosuke thought he could feel his lips, just barely brushing his own.

"... blood feud, huh ..."

"You– you know what I mean, jerk. Vampires and werewolves, they’re like, classic enemies, right?"

Yu hummed, and one of his hands found one of Yosuke’s. Without seemingly a care in the world, he intertwined their fingers, and Yosuke suddenly found it hard to swallow around the lump in his throat.

"I mean... does it bother you?"

"H-huh?"

"That I’m a vampire. Does it bother you?"

"Wh– of course not! Why would it–"

"Then who cares about a blood feud?" Yu bumped their noses together. The cool of his best friend’s skin did nothing to help slow his racing heart.

"... good point, I guess ..."

"Yosuke... can I kiss you now?"

Yosuke had no idea how to answer that without any sound he made turning into a very unmanly squeak. He tried to nod instead, which resulted only in his head bonking into Yu’s, and both of them flinching back with a hiss.

"Shit! Dude, I– crap, I’m sorry, I wasn’t–"

 _"Yosuke."_  Something about Yu’s tone got Yosuke to shut up so fast his teeth clicked. His tone was tough to decipher, colored by exasperation, fondness, and that certain steel he got when he was giving orders, but it made a shiver run down Yosuke’s spine.

"Was that a yes?"

"I– I mean, _yeah,_ obviously–"

Yu cut him off by insistently pressing their mouths together, tasting of blood and sweat and dirt and _boy_ and everything Yosuke had only just realized he’d always wanted. At that point, Yosuke decided, each of his muscles relaxing one by one as he dissolved into Yu, into the taste and smell and too-close feel of him, it didn’t really matter what else he’d had to say. It wasn’t important, anyway.

 

* * *

 

There weren’t really any changes to their schedules or routines surrounding each other, after that. But when they were alone together, there were many more warm, close, breathing silences than there used to be.

 

* * *

 

They never really discussed whether or not they would tell the others. Yosuke was ambivalent, most times leaning towards reluctant. He was the one to point out that their friends would likely support them no matter what, but he could understand Yu’s desire for secrecy. His own greatest concern was that they’d alienate the others, or worse, scare them off.

Yu never explained his reticence, but he didn’t have to. Yosuke thought of a cat, no longer a kitten, waiting outside the Dojima house each day, and understood.

Mostly, they simply left the issue alone. Until, of course, an opportunity arose for them to be uniquely themselves with no one the wiser.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what if yosuke was just gay. what if


	3. the end of the night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a great deal of emotions about Teddie being an important member of the team with great value of his own to contribute. Anyway, enjoy.

The plan turned out to be a rousing success. Nanako practically bounced her way to each desk, prompting laughter and smiles wherever she went, and someone had even tracked down a hollow plastic jack-o-lantern for her to use as a candy bucket. (Yosuke later admitted to borrowing it from the supplies he’d used to set up the Junes display earlier in the day.) She got plenty of compliments about her cute costume, getting her to blush and curtsy and Kanji to just blush. The rest of the team trailed after her, everyone taking turns walking up front with her while the others mingled amongst themselves. No one else collected candy, though Yosuke and Yukiko especially helped each police officer and detective do any clean up their desk required once Nanako had passed.

Her joy was contagious. The whole station felt like a brighter place by the time she was done. Even Dojima had a grin on his face when he emerged from his stack of paperwork to say a last quick hello and give Nanako a kiss on the head.

"Make sure to take her straight home," he said to Yu, but his tone was kind. There was a moment between them, as uncle and nephew regarded each other, that no one but the two of them could decipher. Dojima was the one to break it, gruffly clearing his throat and clapping Yu on the shoulder wordlessly before returning to his desk. The only one to catch the whole thing was Kanji, who might’ve understood better than most why Yu seemed quietly pleased.

It felt like barely any time had passed at all before they were done. Nanako had a full bucket of candy, and by this time of the night, she was practically weaving on her feet. With her jack-o-lantern hanging from the crook of her elbow, she clung to Yu with one hand and rubbed her eyes with the other as the whole group set out for the Dojima residence, with promises to return the next day after school to help break down the decorations. Halfway home, Yu stooped to pick her up, and carried her the rest of the way while she dozed on his shoulder and Yosuke held onto her candy bucket.

Both boys headed into the house once they arrived while the rest of the group waited patiently on the sidewalk for Yu to put Nanako to bed. Everyone wanted to say goodnight before they all headed home, and no one wanted to keep Nanako awake to do it. At least it wasn’t too long a wait; about ten minutes later Yosuke reappeared, minus dog ears and paws, to say Yu was on his way out. He found himself dragged into a talk with Kanji and Teddie by the time Yu emerged, now capeless.

For a few minutes everyone stood around chatting. It was late, but they’d stayed up later for Midnight Channel viewings, and this was nothing difficult. Chie’s yawn set off Rise’s, and Teddie started to complain and tug at Yosuke’s shirt. As everyone started to trade goodbyes and goodnights, Naoto escaped the clutch and moved over to Yu’s side, her sharp gaze cut sideways to his face.

"I don’t mean to keep you, senpai, but there’s something I’ve been wondering."

"What’s that, Naoto?" Yu was watching her curiously, one hand tucked in his pocket as they stood off to one side, separated from the others, now an excited gaggle as Yosuke and Teddie started in on some argument.

"Yes, well... when did you remove your fake teeth?"

Yu did not go still. He did not even much react to the question. All he did was cant his head slightly, his expression inscrutable as he stared her down. Naoto did not flinch or look away. The moment stretched, the yelps and laughter of the others a noisy background static.

When Yu broke the silence, it was with an expression as clear and unreadable as still water. "At the station, just as we were starting. When did you realize it?"

"Sometime before we left." Naoto was not quite smiling, but something about the set of her mouth suggested she couldn’t decide if she wanted to be. "Your fangs... they’re real, aren’t they?"

Yu gave her a closed-lip smile just as the both of them realized the others behind them had stopped talking. Both paused, turning to look, only to see everyone but Yosuke staring at them in open shock.

"Yo... what’d she say just now?"

"N-no way..."

"Ah," breathed Yu, and that was apparently all the confirmation the others needed. Chaos erupted.

"So this means... you’re ... a vampire? A _real_ vampire?"

"You’re telling me that sensei’s a _real_ creature of the night?!"

"Senpai... it can’t be true, can it?"

Yosuke didn’t say a word.

Yu glanced at Naoto, and after a moment, she gave him a nod in some unspoken encouragement. Turning to fully face the rest of the group, Yu smiled in a way that did not touch his eyes, and was instead designed just to bare his teeth. His fangs were present – until they weren’t, withdrawing into his gums with an odd, wet _shlick_ sound that made some of the girls flinch.

The look on his face was very soft, and a little resigned.

"I should have known," he murmured, glancing at Naoto. "I wasn’t going to get away with that forever. I debated for a long time on simply telling you all, but... somehow, the time for it never seemed to come. Not when we had so many other things going on."

"Y-You really are a... holy shit, dude..."

"Yu-kun..." Chie was gripping Yukiko’s hand in her own, so tightly that Yukiko had a slightly uncomfortable look on her face. Or maybe that unease was just all for Yu. "Are... you dead?"

Everyone went quiet again at that. Yu dipped his head low, his eyes half-lidded, as he considered.

"I don’t know for sure," he said finally, his voice so quiet that a few of the others stepped closer without thinking. "When I was ... turned, I blacked out. It’s possible that I died..." Rubbing a hand over his chest, he shook his head. "I have a pulse. But ... there are certain things that are different."

"Understatement!" Rise exclaimed, angry and worried and scared all at once, and marched up to him so she could stare up into his face, much to his apparent surprise. "No wonder you’re so pale all the time!" Without warning, and before he could duck out of her range, she grabbed his bare hand. An audible gasp escaped her and she dropped him like she’d been burned, leaving Yu looking vaguely discomfited as she backed away.

"Your... hands are really cold, senpai... I guess I never really thought about it before, but..."

"Most of me is." His voice was cool now, his face once again a smooth, expressionless mask. "There’s a reason I don’t touch anyone, or let them touch me except through clothes. I haven’t had much in the way of body heat since that night."

"So you’re like... a zombie, almost?" This was Yukiko, quiet and wondering, and though there was no particular inflection to her voice, Yu’s shoulders bunched up anyway.

"No, he’s a vampire, obviously, you saw his fangs, didn’t you?"

"Do you really drink ... _blood?"_

"How come you can go out in sunlight?"

" _Hey_ , lay off him, will ya?"

Yosuke had finally found his voice. He pushed through the rest of the group and went to stand beside his best friend, expression blazing as he gripped Yu’s shoulder. He ignored Yu’s quiet murmur of his name and kept talking, incensed at this point.

"You know how hard it was for him all this time? Having to dodge weird questions and never touch anybody? How do you think _he_ feels about this crap? If you know him at all, you’ll know the answer’s 'worse than you do,' so leave him alone." Of course, then his glare swung onto Yu’s face, leaving the taller boy blinking in surprise. "Partner, I _told_ you this wasn’t gonna work out!"

"Wait, senpai, you saying you _knew_ _?"_ Kanji looked possibly more irritated by that revelation than by anything else he’d learned so far, his brow settling down low as he glared between the two. Yosuke just shrugged expansively.

"They’ve been colluding," Naoto chimed in, and her voice was not kind. "I’ve noticed for some time now an unusual collaboration between the two of them that seemed to go beyond simple friendship. Coupled with senpai’s complexion and cool skin, plus certain marks on Yosuke-senpai’s arms–"

" _Yeah_ , I knew," Yosuke cut in, precluding any questions about that line of deduction. "So what, you got a problem with that?"

"Hell _yeah_ I got a problem with it!" Kanji stepped forward now, sweeping an arm past Yukiko and Chie. They let him do it, silent behind the solid barrier it made, both of them looking from the pair of boys to Kanji, back and forth. Rise huddled beside Naoto, wide-eyed and speechless, while Naoto didn’t say or do anything at all. "You’re telling me that after all this time, 'n all of us gettin' close to him and shit, he’s been keeping _secrets_ from us? And not just any secret, but something this damn huge! The hell kind of friendship is that supposed to be, anyway? We’re trusting in you, senpai!"

His voice was rising steadily, and while Yosuke didn’t flinch under the assault, all the life seemed to drain from Yu, leaving behind a flat-footed, uncertain husk.

"Man, I know you got problems relying on others, you don’t hafta tell me that twice. _Tch._ But isn’t this kind of a big deal? How the hell have you been hiding this? And why didn’t you let us _help_ you, dammit?"

Yu opened his mouth. No sound came out.

Kanji whirled on the others, glaring at each of them in turn.

"Anyway, even if I’m pissed, Yosuke-senpai has a point! The hell’s our problem? We should be here for him, the same way he’d be here if this was happening to any of us! Now are we going to man up, or just stand around crying about it like a buncha babies?!"

Chie glanced away, shamefaced, while Yukiko had paled but looked determined. Rise was pink in the face, like she was holding in fury or tears or both. Naoto remained expressionless, but she ducked her chin down low, aborting a motion halfway through to reach for a hat that wasn’t there. Teddie, for his part, was quiet. In fact, he hadn’t spoken at all since the group’s initial exclamations of shock. His expression was still hidden by his jack-o-lantern head. Instead of taking just that off, Teddie unzipped his costume entirely to let his human form out.

"Sensei..." Teddie stepped out onto the street, settling the costume neatly on the ground before moving over to Yu and Yosuke. "... were you scared?"

Yu’s eyes widened a touch. He swallowed, and he tried again to speak, and still no words came.

Teddie nodded like that was all he needed to know. "I understand. It’s pretty scary, to be different! I’ve spent a long time thinking about that... what it means to not know who I am when all of you have lives, and families.” Far from sounding bitter, there was kindness in his voice, and a warmth like amazement. "You just didn’t want to lose us, did you, sensei?"

"I’m not..." Yu’s voice was rough, and pitched only just above a whisper. "... I just wanted to keep all of you safe."

"Even from yourself?" This was Naoto, shrewd and unrelentingly incisive. Yu started, and then nodded mechanically.

"... there was an ... incident ... back when all of this started. I lost control of myself. The creature I attacked survived, but... that was more by luck than anything else. I wanted to tell you all, but more than not finding time, I..." Yu swallowed hard, steeling himself, and his voice gained strength, if also a clear edge of guilt. "... I didn’t want to involve the rest of you. It was safer that way. Yosuke has been helping me, but..."

The look on Yosuke’s face was pained, and he squeezed his partner’s shoulder again.

Chie, though, decided this was the moment she’d had more than enough. She broke away from Yukiko, her hands balled into fists even as tears gathered in her eyes. " _Dammit,_ Yu-kun! How could you make yourself deal with this alone for so long?! I thought you trusted us!"

Before Yu could say anything – or even try – she’d thrown herself at him bodily, and wrapped her arms around his torso in a hug tight enough to make him huff out a breath.

"Chie...?" he murmured, staring down at her in astonishment. In response, she gave him as powerful a glare as she could muster, even though it was a little ruined by the fact that she was actually crying now.

"You big...  _idiot!"_ She thumped him with one of her fists, making him huff again, this time the sound a little pained. " _Rely_ on us more! We’re here for you!" Sniffling hard, she craned her head to glare daggers into the rest of the group. " _Right?"_

"Of course we’re going to stand by you, Yu-kun," agreed Yukiko, her response immediate and surprisingly steady. "It doesn’t matter to us _what_ you are. It’s _who_ you are that counts. Isn’t that right?"

"That’s for damn sure!" Kanji thumbed his nose, hunching his shoulders as he glared at nothing, but his face was faintly flushed. "You’re not just our leader, you’re our friend! Get that through your thick skull already!"

"Senpai, while we all appreciate your efforts to look out for us, you don’t always need to stay on such high guard." Naoto was finally smiling, a real smile that lit her eyes. "After all, we’re here because we care for you, too. We’ll support you regardless of the circumstances ... or your own personal misgivings."

"That’s right!" Rise pumped an arm in the air even as her voice shivered with tears, and she had to lower her fist to rub at her eyes. She grabbed Yu’s arm and hugged it tight, ignoring Chie’s protests. "We’ll love you with everything we have no matter what happens, senpai!"

"After all, that’s what you’d do for us, right?" Teddie was beaming, his shoulders jumping as he tried hard to keep his own tears at bay.

"Dude..." Yosuke’s voice was quiet, and his eyes were on Yu’s face. All he could do was watch now that his best friend had started, however silently, to cry.

"I..." Yu’s voice was choked with unrestrained emotion, and a shaky smile crossed his face. "... I love you guys, too. I’m sorry for keeping secrets."

"Oh, sensei!" This cry was mixed in with shouts of _senpai!_ and his name as the whole team piled in, trying to get their arms around him, and with quite a lot of yelling, yelping, and flailing limbs, everyone tumbled to the ground in a confused but happy pile. Yosuke and Chie were hollering as if they were trying to shout down Kanji, Yukiko was giggling and snorting, Rise and Teddie were whooping and cheering, and Naoto, very red in the face, was simply stammering as she tried to say _anything._ In the middle of it all was Yu, laughing and crying at once, too relieved to do anything but.

 

* * *

 

"Have we mentioned yet that Yosuke is a werewolf?"

" _What?!"_

"Yeah, that's his real tail and everything."

"You gotta be freakin’ kidding me..."

"Is that really true?! ... can I touch it?"

"Oh hell no! Don’t even _think_ about it!"

 

* * *

 

"You should’ve told them we’re dating, while you were at it," Yosuke grumbled.

"Should I have? I didn’t think the timing was right..."

"Dude, are you– don’t just take stuff like that seriously! Ugh, I’m going to have my third heart attack of the night..."

It had taken some time, but eventually everyone had calmed down. Gentle reminders that they were making a lot of noise in the middle of the street had been enough to quiet most everyone down except Teddie. Once everyone had a chance to sneak into the house and change back into their regular clothes, he’d needed some careful shepherding by Chie and Yukiko in order to start heading back towards the Hanamuras’. After that, the entire group had slowly started to peel off, bidding their good nights and talking quietly in trios and pairs as they wandered home. Eventually, only Yu and Yosuke had been left, and Yu had invited Yosuke to come in for a while before heading back.

That was how they both ended up in the couch, with steaming mugs of tea in front of them that went largely ignored, at least by Yosuke, who seemed more interested in doing his level best to melt into the couch cushions.

Still, after a moment of companionable silence, he glanced over towards the hallway. Yu could tell where he was looking.

"Think she’ll be okay?"

Yu nodded slowly. "We made sure she dressed warm, and didn’t let her stay out for very long. I think she’ll be alright, but I’ll keep a close eye on her tomorrow."

Yosuke nodded, lifting his arms over his head as he stretched slowly. With an odd _pop_ disturbingly reminiscent of a joint cracking, one of his hands transformed into a paw, and Yosuke frowned at it sourly.

"Man... I’m too tired to keep control of these things right now. What a night!"

Smiling, Yu reached out to take the paw, and pressed its pads to his cheek. Yosuke spluttered, blushing furiously, trying to pull his paw back as he choked out, "d-dude, don’t just–"

"I like it," Yu said simply, and though his smile was plain, mischief lurked in the shape of his eyes. Yosuke wrinkled his nose in disgust and yanked his paw away, glaring at it until it turned back into a human hand.

"You would, creep."

"Mm. Says the weirdo dating a vampire."

"Hey, that’s not–!" Yosuke’s face was so red that Yu started to laugh, and with a huff, Yosuke leaned over sideways until he could let his head rest on Yu’s shoulder. Yu instantly wrapped an arm around him and tugged him close.

"... partner, tell me something," Yosuke spoke up, after a long stretch of silence. Yu glanced down at him, and then let go so Yosuke could sit up. The look on his face was somber.

"Did you _really_ think we’d get away with all this tonight, or were you _planning_ for Naoto-kun to figure us out?"

Yu glanced away, staring unthinkingly in the direction of Nanako’s bedroom.

"Maybe I was hoping?" he admitted finally, the tender hollow in his chest robbing his words of their power and volume. His voice was left with only gentle quiet. "I don’t really know. I felt awful lying to them. But just like Teddie said, I was also scared of what they’d think. Scared of what might happen if they got involved. I know I’m unlikely to hurt _you,_ but they’re just human..."

Yu looked down when he found Yosuke’s hand gripping his own, and looked up again into a deeply determined face.

"Yeah, but so what? These 'just humans' have been doing dangerous as hell stuff all year to stop a murderer!"

"That’s not–"

"I know that’s not what you meant. I’m just saying, have a little faith!" Yosuke grinned suddenly, and Yu wondered idly if one day he might just be blinded by its brightness. "They’re gonna be fine. We’re _all_ gonna be fine. You, me, the team, everyone in this town once we put a stop to the creep behind the murders! So no more moping, you hear me?"

Yu watched him for a moment, his strength and fire and conviction, and then leaned in to press a fleeting kiss to his lips.

"I hear you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't figure out how to work this into the fic, but Nanako believes the explanation that Yu just has cold hands. (Given her perceptiveness, she probably realizes something is going on, though.)
> 
> When I started this fic, it was meant to be something goofy and sweet and funny for Halloween. (Yes, I started this before Halloween.) And then Certain Things took place, at which point I decided I wanted it to be a fic about how much friends love each other and will support each other no matter what. So now it’s all of those things.
> 
> I might revisit this world later. We’ll see. If I do, it won’t be for a while.
> 
> As ever, feel free to come say hello to me over on my [tumblr](http://thievishly.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
